Middles

Hi Families,

Welcome to the end of week 6! This term is really flying! We would like to start by thanking all the parents who attended the Maths Curriculum night. It was great to see so many families checking out how Maths is taught and learnt in the classrooms and giving our students an opportunity to showcase their knowledge and skills. Excitement is building in 3/4 as we prepare for another excursion, this time to the National Gallery of Victoria with a focus on Indigenous Art. If you have not returned your permission form please make sure you do as soon as possible.

Literacy

In Literacy we have been focussing on traditional Aboriginal Dreamtime stories. We have practised retelling, role playing and thinking deeply about the messages embedded in these stories. We have also been developing our inferring skills and ‘reading between the lines’. In Writing, we have practised using different formats to retell stories we have heard including, diary entries and scripts.

Maths

We have completed our unit on ‘Time’ with a post test and look forward to commencing a new unit on location. It was great to see so many students show growth. We have continued to learn about addition and subtraction strategies through workshops and are incorporating our knowledge of addition and subtraction into solving worded problems.

Inquiry

We have commenced the ‘Building’ stage of our Inquiry unit ‘We have landed.’ The students have been mixed into three groups which are rotating through workshops focussed on land and sea explorers and Indigenous culture. The year 4 students from Miss Anne-Marie’s 4/5 class have also joined us for these workshops and we have worked hard building our knowledge in these areas, which will help us when we personalise our learning.

Assembly

It was great to see so many families come along to see our students lead the school at assembly on Friday. Students enjoyed leading the school with the national anthem, school prayer and showcase our learning in the area of Inquiry.

Religion

Lastly, in Religion we are continuing to look at Old Testament stories. We have practised how to locate stories in the Bible after been given referencing instructions of Book, Chapter and Verse. Students have made choices about how they respond to the stories we have read. Some responses have included open minded portraits, making booklets and participating in picture chats.

We hope you are staying warm during this cold weather and have a great weekend!

Jarrod, Tania, Carla, Vicki and Sophia

Preps

Hi Families,

We hope you are keeping well now the winter weather has really begun to set in!

We would like to take this opportunity to thank all Prep families who attended the St Mary’s curriculum night. It was great to see so many of you there and we are appreciative of all your support for the school.

Over the past fortnight in Literacy, the Preps have been focussing on identifying the beginning and end of a story. The Preps had a go at drawing and writing a sentence to match what happens at the beginning and what happens at the end of the story. This week the Preps did a great job identifying the beginning and end of the story ‘Who Sank The Boat by Pamela Allen’. In writing, we have been learning to write and recognise different types of procedural texts. On Monday the Preps had a wonderful time making jelly in their homerooms, then had a go at sequencing the steps required to make jelly.

In Maths we have continued our learning on addition. We have been using the strategy of count on from the largest number to help us add simple numbers. We are enjoying participating in hands on activities to support our learning.

In Religion we have learnt about the Great Catch and the Ascension and are starting to discuss and reflect on what happened at the time of Pentecost.

This week in Inquiry, the Preps participated in ‘The Drama Toolbox’ incursion where they investigated different body parts and continued their learning of how diet, physical activity and sleep can impact their body’s performance. The Preps had a fantastic time learning about and dressing up as different body parts including, lungs, stomach, blood cells (red blood cells and white blood cells) and neurons.

As always we are extremely grateful to the parents that come and help us out in the classroom. We thank you for giving up your time to assist with your child’s learning.

Have a fabulous week,

Hayley and Amanda

Juniors

Hello Families,

What a busy time it has been in the Junior Level!

In English, the learners have been reading texts about creating things and different types of procedures. They are developing their ability to read with increased confidence by focussing on different strategies. The learners have been learning how to respond to a text in various ways and engage in a variety of handwriting activities. They have been writing different types of procedures, on such areas as instructions on how to play a game or build something, recipes and directions.

In Maths, we have begun two new units. In our Addition unit, the learners have been using concrete materials such as tens frames and different strategies such as counting on to solve addition equations. In our unit on Shape, the learners have been learning how to name, sort and describe different 2D (two-dimensional) shapes and identify where they might see these different shapes around them.

In Religion, the learners have been studying the last appearances of Jesus after he rose from the dead - The Ascension and Pentecost. It has been great to see the interest shown in these stories with lots of questions asked, engagement in the follow up activities and reflection on the different events.

In our Inquiry unit ‘May The Force Be With You’, the level of interest and engagement has been fantastic. The students have been immersed in the unit, made some great initial creations and shared these with their peers. They have written down their wonderings and now we are in the Building Stage of the Learning Process. We were fortunate to have Naree Atkinson lead each homeroom in a workshop on Magnets and the different forces they create. These were very ‘hands on’ sessions and the feedback from the learners was very positive. Thank you so much Naree!

The learners in 1/2B and 1/2NT are very excited about having the opportunity to lead the school at Assembly this Friday (31st of May). We all look forward to seeing lots of family members there on the last day of Autumn!

Have a great week,

Bethany, Naomi, Tracey, Julia, Renee and Jason

St Mary's School

Issue 8 · 30 May 2019

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